Impact of High-Speed Rail on Social Equity—Insights from a Stated Preference Survey in Vietnam

This study investigated the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on social equity, utilizing information from a stated preference survey conducted in Vietnam. Social equity was examined across the population of four cities representing the northern, central, and southern areas of Vietnam. In general, the high price of HSR is one of the barriers to using HSR over inter-city buses and conventional trains. Low-income groups (less than VND 6 million per month) have 4.894 and 4.725 times the likelihoods, compared to higher income groups, of retaining the use of an inter-city bus or conventional train, respectively, after introducing HSR. Our findings reveal the fact that social inequity may occur, with the low-income group being especially vulnerable, due to the existence of HSR in the future. Furthermore, our results indicate that the interest of people towards inter-city buses and conventional trains varied among the four cities before and after the presence of HSR. More specifically, low-income groups in Vinh and Nha Trang were observed to have a higher feeling of staying away from HSR, as they prefer to use inter-city buses. The findings of this study suggest that planners and policymakers need to consider various components of HSR ticket planning, in order to achieve sustainable evolution of the passenger rail system.

Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Dan Inflasi Di Indonesia Pada Masa Pandemi

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused recessions in many countries around the world. This happened after economic growth in the first and second quarters of 2020. Some of the countries experiencing recession are Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Japan, France, Hong Kong, and the United States. If the economic growth in each quarter is also negative, Indonesia will experience a recession. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that Indonesia's economic growth rate fell to minus (5.32%) in the second quarter of 2020. Previously, Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 was 2.97% or started to slow down. Inflation is a tendency to increase the prices of goods and services in general, which continues continuously, which will reduce the purchasing power of the public, especially for low-income groups. Therefore, it is hoped that there will be a control over the rate of inflation, especially during the Covid 19 Pandemic which had an impact on Indonesia's macro conditions. This observation discusses "The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Indonesia's Inflation Rate", aims to determine the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Level of Inflation in Indonesia. The results of this observation show that in March 2020 there was inflation of 2.96% year on year (yoy), with an increase in the price of gold jewelery and several food prices that experienced a quite drastic increase.

URBAN LOW-COST HOUSING EFFECT MENTAL HEALTH

As the number of people moving to urban areas increases by the year, it also increases the prevalence of mental health problems worldwide. Low-income groups in urban areas have had to choose to live in low-cost housing due to the higher cost of living. This study aims to understand the effect of living in lowcost housing. The objectives are to study and analyse mental health conditions for the low-income group living in low-cost housing in an urban area. This study was conducted at the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The questionnaire used is an adaptation of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the sample selection used homogenous sampling. The site selection is based on the housing scheme's characteristics: location, density, property age, and surrounding land use. The data collected were analysed using correlation analysis to determine the relationship between urban low-cost housing living and mental health. The results have shown that 57.8 per cent of the respondents have depression, 65.7 per cent have anxiety, and 55.9 per cent have stress with various severity. The findings show that low-cost housing associated with poorer mental health is caused by several factors.

IMPACTS OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION ON POVERTY AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN DEVELOPING ASIA

This study investigates the impacts of financial inclusion on poverty and income inequality in 27 developing countries in Asia during 2004–2019 based on a composite financial inclusion index (FII) constructed using principal component analysis (PCA). The generalized method of moments (GMM) was employed for the estimation. The results show that financial inclusion can influence the reduction in both poverty and income inequality. The empirical findings also reveal the contribution of such control variables as economic growth in decreasing income disparity and trade openness in helping improve the standard of living of poor households despite its tendency to co-vary with income inequality. The present empirical evidence supporting the role of financial inclusion in reducing poverty and income inequality in developing countries has led to a policy implication that financial sector development should focus on the availability, usage, and depth of credit to cover all poor households or low-income groups to help improve their access to financial services, enable them to increase their income, and reduce the income gap between poor and rich households.

Crisis оf distribution in the modern world: trends and consequences

Main causes of crisis of distribution in the modern world are considered in the article. While the COVID- 19 pandemic is spreading, the problem of distribution and related crises have become main issues that attract attention of both governments and the world community. Rising unemployment, gender disparities, income inequality and wealth are some of the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has exacerbated inequality on the all main dividing lines of society and pushed back achievements in reducing poverty all around the world. The pandemic and its aftermath have reminded us of the need to move to a society, which would be fairer and more sustainable one. The distribution crisis can lead to the collapse of many social subsystems. The systems, structures and organizations, which are able to change in a permanent way and effectively overcome conflicts, become the most successful. Distribution policy does not necessarily mean welfare programs for low-income groups or a broad distribution of public goods and finances. Redistributing manager’s power is also subject to redistribution policy. The idea of welfare state, its development and further all-encompassing crisis draw attention to the most important moments of human existence, such as distribution of goods and the right to access to resources both within a state and in the world as a whole. The states with a high welfare level enjoy widely available educational programs, largely funded by taxes. Thus, in order to ensure equal opportunities and achieve equal results, a coordination of professional training and an existing labor market is needed. A clear legal system is needed to address distribution challenges and distribution risks, especially in economic legislation and, first of all, in tax, financial and antitrust regulations, which solve distribution problems in practice. Thus, distribution crises must be effectively controlled and resolved by strengthening economic regulation.

A 32 Year old Female with Recurrent Chest Infections with Dizziness

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is associated with repeated chest infections. Repeated chest infections, in turn, can lead to bronchiectasis and vice versa. In this case a 32 year old female presented to us with repeated chest infections. Upon thorough examination and investigation, she was found to have both ASD along with bronchiectasis. It also shows the devastating consequences of having two serious illnesses can have on a patients life, specially in low income groups. J MEDICINE 2021; 22: 155-156

COVID-19 AGENT-BASED MODEL: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SIMULATOR APPLIED IN VACCINATION SCENARIOS FOR QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES

COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out in the Philippines but the supply remains limited; there is a need to optimize the distribution. In this study, we developed a COVID-19 agent-based model for Quezon City, a COVID-19 hotspot in the country. This model, in conjunction with a multi-objective linear programming model for equitable vaccine distribution, was then used to simulate four vaccination scenarios. Experiments were conducted with the front-line workers always added to the groups: mobile workers, elderly and low-income. Main results are: prioritizing the mobile workers minimizes infections the most (by 4.34%), while prioritizing the low-income groups minimizes deaths the most (by 1.93%). These results demonstrate that protecting the population with the most interactions (mobile workers) effectively reduces future infections. On the other hand, protecting the most vulnerable population (low income and elderly) decreases the likelihood of death. These results may guide the policy-makers in Quezon City.

The Strategic Nature of the Wellington Regional Land Transport Strategy 2007-2016

<p>The purpose of the RLTS is to guide the region's transport spending over the next ten years. This study seeks to determine how strategic it is in terms of key environmental, economic and social outcomes: amenity and amenity access, air quality, accessibility, and low-income groups' transport affordability. Strategic is defined as how well the RLTS will function under potential future circumstances and its internal coherency and consistency. The resilience and adaptability of the RLTS to that range of potential futures is also analysed. The RLTS' priority is increasing regional accessibility, however due to 20+ years of underinvestment in the PT infrastructure, especially rail, targets set towards that goal are limited. Amenity and air quality are both considered to not require much intervention, but amenity services would be more adequately served if they were considered on par with air quality. Transport affordability to the community and users, especially low-income groups, was not given warranted attention. Therefore, four out of five of the outcomes appear to be well balanced. The RLTS objectives and outcomes are rather resilient, while the implementation plans are adequately adaptable with annual monitoring reports and final decisions which are also made on an annual basis. However, this can lead to inconsistencies between the Strategy and its implementation plans. The RLTS is therefore starting to head in a more sustainable direction, but the internal coherency and consistency is somewhat lacking.</p>

The Strategic Nature of the Wellington Regional Land Transport Strategy 2007-2016

<p>The purpose of the RLTS is to guide the region's transport spending over the next ten years. This study seeks to determine how strategic it is in terms of key environmental, economic and social outcomes: amenity and amenity access, air quality, accessibility, and low-income groups' transport affordability. Strategic is defined as how well the RLTS will function under potential future circumstances and its internal coherency and consistency. The resilience and adaptability of the RLTS to that range of potential futures is also analysed. The RLTS' priority is increasing regional accessibility, however due to 20+ years of underinvestment in the PT infrastructure, especially rail, targets set towards that goal are limited. Amenity and air quality are both considered to not require much intervention, but amenity services would be more adequately served if they were considered on par with air quality. Transport affordability to the community and users, especially low-income groups, was not given warranted attention. Therefore, four out of five of the outcomes appear to be well balanced. The RLTS objectives and outcomes are rather resilient, while the implementation plans are adequately adaptable with annual monitoring reports and final decisions which are also made on an annual basis. However, this can lead to inconsistencies between the Strategy and its implementation plans. The RLTS is therefore starting to head in a more sustainable direction, but the internal coherency and consistency is somewhat lacking.</p>

Universal patterns of long-distance commuting and social assortativity in cities

Millions commute to work every day in cities and interact with colleagues, partners, friends, and strangers. Commuting facilitates the mixing of people from distant and diverse neighborhoods, but whether this has an imprint on social inclusion or instead, connections remain assortative is less explored. In this paper, we aim to better understand income sorting in social networks inside cities and investigate how commuting distance conditions the online social ties of Twitter users in the 50 largest metropolitan areas of the United States. An above-median commuting distance in cities is linked to more diverse individual networks, moreover, we find that longer commutes are associated with a nearly uniform, moderate reduction of overall social tie assortativity across all cities. This suggests a universal relation between long-distance commutes and the integration of social networks. Our results inform policy that facilitating access across distant neighborhoods can advance the social inclusion of low-income groups.